meanwhile, israeli forces continue their offensive against hamas militants in gaza. their campaign is now in its seventh day. >> the death toll among palestinians is now over 110 people. about half of them, civilians. for more on these fast-developing situations, we're joined by abc's lama hasan, who is in jerusalem. lama, what is the latest? >> reporter: well, good morning to you, paula. yes, there is a flurry of diplomatic activity, this morning, as you rightly said. secretary clinton is heading to the region. she'll be meeting with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. and then, she'll move on to ramallah to meet with the palestinian authority leader, mahmoud abbas. she'll be promoting a de-escalation to the violence, as well as promoting a long-term peace outcome that sees the hamas militants stopping their attacks on the southern israeli cities. and finally, she'll head to cairo. you'll recall, it was the egyptian president, mohamed morsi, who has been spearheading these peace talks, these truce talks between hamas and israel. so, there's a lot behind